Unless you are part of a local Union,,, who negotiate progression pay raises for you on your behalf & is written in the union contract,,, pay raises are solely the employees responsibility. Do not assume that your employer will just 'know' when you to give you a pay raise. Standard cost of living goes up every 3-5 years which means employees should get pay raises to accommodate for that but some/most companies like to keep their overheard down & therefore wont provide you with a raise. I've known some people personally that have not received a raise in 8 or more years- because they were told its not within the company's budget to do so. I've done contractual work in the last 10 years after being a successful hired employee for 25 yrs I got downsized- been doing contract work since-- I come in making my fair market value-- how do I know I am being paid that-- I research on various pay scale websites (salary.com, payscale.com, indeed, monster etc) on how much my current title is making in my area & experience when I negotiate my initial pay,, then wait a standard length of time before asking for a raise.